At 15, Miss America Tara Holland found that a woman she loved and respected could not read.
"She cooked wonderfully and I always liked to eat with her," Holland said. "But I always wondered why she never used a recipe. I thought she was really creative. But as I found out, she couldn't read."That's when Holland's interest in literacy began. She joined a literacy group at Florida State and made literacy her platform at the Miss America pageant.
Tuesday, Holland brought her message to Utah for a Literacy Volunteers of America benefit dinner at La Caille restaurant. Making her first visit to Salt Lake City, Holland will also ride in the KSL-TV float at the Pioneer Day parade.
"I'm excited about the third largest parade in the country," she said.
But the reason she travels the country 20,000 miles a month goes beyond showy appearances.
"I have the stamina to do it because I really believe in the power of literacy. I have seen it firsthand change people's lives, time and time again," Holland said.
Holland hopes her message will reach people like the anonymous woman close to her who could not read.
"That person has never wanted to admit that she was not able to read," she said. "It is a potentially embarrassing issue."
But by knowing that there is help available and that they are not alone, people who cannot read may be encouraged to seek assistance.
"In today's society, (people who can't read) are considered dumb," Holland said. "That's simply not true. If someone can get that past you every day . . . they must be pretty smart."
In one of her most poignant experiences as Miss America, Holland said she met a man dying of AIDS who wanted to learn to read and write so he could write a personal letter for his children before he passed away.
About 20 percent of all Americans can't read, Holland said. Half of all the people on welfare and 75 percent of the unemployed are illiterate. But the most staggering statistic is that 90 percent of all death row inmates can't read, she said.
"This is the statistic that really blows my mind," she said. Illiteracy is an issue that has the potential to result in unemployment, homelessness, teen pregnancy and drug abuse, among other things.
She hopes her message also encourages more people to volunteer with literacy programs.
"I really believe in the power of each of us to make a difference."
Whether it's actual tutoring or reading to their young children, "there's a place for everyone and anyone in the literacy solution," she said.